After the Storm
by MsJillyJelly
Summary: Isaac Clarke and Ellie Langford nearly escape Tiedemann Station with their lives. But what will happen now that they've left the station and most of its horrors behind? Isaac/Ellie


A/N: So I'm writing a Dead Space fanfiction. Because, I figure "why the hell not?" And also, this pairing doesn't get enough love so I thought I'd contribute with my own fic. :) This isn't the only chapter, don't worry. I know it's kind of set up to be like that, but it's not. I have a lot in store for this. Granted it won't be _too _long, but I figure it'll definitely be longer than 1 chapter. So, I hope you guys like it! And don't be afraid to tell me what you think!

Man it feels good to be writing again...

* * *

_ Isaac could feel perspiration sliding down his face under his helmet. The sound of a leaking pipe somewhere in the room was making him nervous, a little more than it should have been. His eyes darted around the darkness surrounding him._

_Where was Ellie? She should have been back by now…._

_A light wrapping came from one of the doors, the holopad in front of it reading "locked". He stared at it for a minute, the knocking probably just a figment of his imagination. But he couldn't help but wonder…_

_Without making them, his legs began to pull him towards the door. All he could hear was the drumming of his heart in his ears; the beat that increased in rhythm with each step he took. Maybe it was Ellie? But then again, maybe it wasn't._

_Isaac swallowed the dry lump that formed in his throat as he got closer, the knocking becoming more and more urgent. A bead of cold sweat trickled down his neck and onto his back. He reached for the lock on the door, knowing he would be unsuccessful in getting it to open. But to his surprise, when he touched the glowing orange circle, he could hear the hiss of the door's hinges unlocking and beginning to open. _

_Time seemed to slow down as the door opened. Isaac stared in disbelief at what he saw. Or, _didn't_ see, for lack thereof. There was nothing there. It was only a puddle of some dark liquid. Blood, he assumed, seeing as most of the station was practically coated in it. He let out a sharp breath, turning around to see a Necromorph sitting only a few feet away from him._

_The whole where its mouth had once been dripped with fresh blood, the tentacles hanging out from it whipping around hungrily. The peeled skin on its face pulled back into what looked like a smile as it screeched, lunging itself forward, the scythe-like appendages coming from its shoulders swinging back and forth. _

_Isaac dodged it, rolling to the side. He raised his plasma cutter, firing a horizontal shot at its legs, the flesh barely cutting through. His finger was ready to pull down on the trigger again when the Necromorph gathered itself and sprung forward again, this time knocking Isaac to the hard floor, causing the plasma cutter to be thrown out of his hand._

_He grunted, the weight of the Necromorph on top of him crushing. Isaac struggled under its weight, trying to throw him off, but it was no use. The monster's teeth got uncomfortably close to his helmet, blood spraying onto the visor. He pushed his arms against its shoulders as it tried to gnash at his face. The engineer could feel himself growing weaker as the Necromorph continued tirelessly for his face._

_He was just about to give up when a blast of plasma cut through the Necromorph's neck, slicing its head clean off. The impact of the blast caught the Necromorph off guard and threw it off of Isaac. _

_Isaac gasped, scrambling away from it, staggering to the floor. He looked at where the blast came from and saw Ellie standing in the doorway, plasma pistol in hand, the way the light shined on her from the hallway behind her making her seem oddly intimidating. She didn't pay him any attention as she stepped forward, raising her pistol, firing at the Necromorph's limbs. The blasts tore through the meaty flesh, dismembering it as it squealed in frustration. With a final gurgling hiss, its body stopped squirming and it died. _

_Ellie, satisfied the monster was dead, turned to Isaac with a smile plastered on her face. "Miss me?"_

Isaac roused from his sleep to the sound of something shuffling around in the space near him. He brought a hand to his eyes, rubbing the sleep out of them. How long had he been out for?

He looked over to the seat next to him, expecting Ellie to be there, but to his surprise, she was absent. Turning around, he saw she was rummaging through some of the compartments on the small ship they had escaped Titan Station in. She would pick something up, inspect it, saw that it wasn't what she was looking for, and put it back, only to grab another item and repeat the process.

"What are you looking for?" Isaac asked, scratching the top of his head, yawning. It felt weird not having his helmet on. He felt vulnerable, unprotected.

She jumped at the sound of his voice, dropping what looked like a roll of toilet paper. "Oh, you're awake. You scared me," she laughed nervously, turning to him. She closed her one good eye, rubbing it gently with her fist. Isaac was still getting used to the fact she only had one eyeball now. It definitely didn't take away from her looks, but it was still odd remembering that under her eye patch was an empty socket. "I'm just looking for some food," she continued. "I can't remember the last time I've had anything to eat."

Now that she had mentioned it, Isaac couldn't remember the last time he'd eaten anything either. He could hear his stomach rumbling at the thought of food. He stood, stretching, his muscles aching from sitting in the same position for so long.

His feet felt heavy as they carried him over to where she was looking. Being slightly taller than her, he was able to peer into the cabinets directly above her. He stood closely behind her, reaching his arms above her head, searching for something to eat.

"Hey, watch it." She pulled away from him, her eyebrows creased. She ducked out from under the bridge his arms made and searched the cabinets adjacent to the ones she had just been looking in. Ellie gasped in triumph as she found a MRE. Granted, they weren't the greatest tasting things, but she was desperate and would eat anything at this point.

"Find something?" Isaac paused his search in the overhead bins to glance at Ellie who turned to him, waving the MRE around gleefully.

Ellie didn't hesitate to tear open the packaging and dump its contents onto a counter in the ship. Inside was some sort of sandwich, some crackers with peanut butter spread, a brownie, some drink mixes and some other small items like utensils and napkins.

Isaac could see Ellie was disappointed at the size of the meal considering they both had to share it, the excitement in her eye dimming slightly, but she didn't voice her opinion out loud.

Hungrily and anxiously, she began to prepare the sandwich, and, when it was done, split it into two and gave one half to Isaac. She then rummaged around in the drawer she found the MRE in and came back with a small metal bottle of water, using it to dump the drink mix into.

Ellie held up her half of the sandwich towards Isaac. "Cheers."

"Cheers," he said, touching the half of his already bitten into sandwich to hers.

* * *

After they had finished their meal, Ellie sat back down in her chair and, resting her chin on her palm, stared into space. Isaac took his seat next to her and stared as well, watching the ship cruise along, the stars passing them sluggishly. He had no idea where it was even going but, at this point, he didn't even care. As long as it was away from Titan Station. Anywhere would've been better than there.

A few minutes had passed and he turned his head to Ellie, whose eyelid was fluttering open and closed. She was trying to fight it, but ultimately she was too tired and eventually gave into sleep. Isaac moved forward and brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes.

Ellie and he had been through a hell of a lot together. He had her to thank for him still being alive after all. Back on the Sprawl, they had helped each other survive, carry on. She had become an important person to him. Someone he trusted, a friend.

But would all that change once they got back to Earth? He couldn't say. A small part of him wanted to let her go, just in case EarthGov went chasing after Isaac. He wouldn't want Ellie to get mixed up in that. But then again, he wasn't sure if he'd be able to let her go. Another part of him felt like it was his duty to keep her safe. And how could he do that if they went their separate ways?

Isaac shook his head, closing his eyes. He didn't want to think about it, not right then. All that mattered was getting somewhere safe.

His eyes flicked over to Ellie who stirred in her sleep. Her shoulders and fingers twitched slightly as if she were trying to push something away. Isaac wouldn't be surprised if she was having a nightmare. His mind had been littered with them ever since he walked aboard the Ishimura more than a few years ago.

Ellie began to mumble in her sleep, and just as Isaac was finally about to wake her up, her eye flew open and she jumped in her seat, looking panicked.

"Ellie, it's okay. You're safe." Isaac reminded her, sitting forward, grabbing Ellie's shoulders firmly but gently.

Her eye darted around the room in alarm, but once she remembered where she was, she let out a deep, exhausted breath. She looked at Isaac with a small embarrassed and grateful smile, the grogginess of sleep still in her eye. Beads of cold sweat trickled down her forehead as she returned to her former position in the chair, quickly falling back asleep.

Isaac gave a thin smile and grabbed her hand, squeezing it once before letting it go and bringing his own hand to his face to rub his eyes.

Would he let her go once they got to Earth? He couldn't say. For now, Isaac just focused on the stars ahead of them, letting the ship guide them to their undecided destination.


End file.
